


Hush

by TexasDreamer01



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: Canon Temporary Character Death, Gen, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Peri-Canon, waking the dragons, Ｓｔｏｒｙストーリー６ 闇やみの組そ織しきドーマ | Sutōrī Roku: Yami no Soshiki Dōma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-07
Updated: 2017-10-07
Packaged: 2019-01-10 07:04:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12293868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TexasDreamer01/pseuds/TexasDreamer01
Summary: In the lull after death, grief has an insightful companion. And he's determined to let history guide the future.





	Hush

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lizard-hats](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=lizard-hats).



> [Tumblr reblog link](http://texasdreamer01.tumblr.com/post/158924294920/hush).

The cards were heavy in his hands, all plastic sheen and stiffness begotten of hidden circuitry. For all that the world was going straight to hell around them, Katsuya mused, the irony of such modern technology in the face of ancient devils wasn’t lost on him.

He rifled through them, thumbs sliding smoothly over the holographic images - more faith of his had been tested with these in the past days than had been in a while.  _Not since Yugi died_.

The first time, at least, and it pulled a sigh from deep in his chest. The camper they had all lodged themselves in was hardly a rally point, and even less inspiring. In the corner sat Yugi’s shadow, Puzzle cradled morosely in his hands and looking like someone had kicked a chair out from under him.

It might as well have happened exactly like that, for all that duel with Rafael had won not only a point but also a life.  _Two lives_ , and the teenager stacked his cards back together with a neat snick, sheathing them back into his duel disk, shaking out the perpetual dusting of sand from his blond hair with a rough drag of his hand. Hiroto caught the mood, flicking a glance at him as he shuffled his own deck idly.

Wasn’t quite the same, these things, but then again Katsuya could appreciate literally keeping a few friends in his back pocket. The weight of that old admission was a companionable realization to the hard truth that sometimes people didn’t make it home at the end of the day. His heart was only a shade lighter knowing that with these impossible circumstances - soul-sucking megalomaniacs and apocalypses aside - came impossible miracles.

And that sometimes, if one played their cards right, the impossible was just what one needed. (Even if they were lonely.  _Especially_.)

The corrugated metal tread that served as an illusion of a hallway in the cramped quarters was salted with sand, each step - over Hiroto’s crossed legs leisurely stretched out, skirting Anzu’s sandaled toes - crunching under his shoes. He quirked a smile at the contrast in front of him; dirtied leather boots with gleaming silver dotting the buckles, legs crossing at the knees in absent habit, compared to his own sneakers, one shoe with a haphazardly-repaired hole square in the toe.

Katsuya wiggled his toes a little at the stray memory, content to let it skitter across his mind. It did nothing to alleviate the gristle of grains sneaking into his socks, but that was alright - a few reminders here and there were hardly unwarranted. They kept him better company than the friend in front of him, at any rate, and he tapped a foot against the booted one planted on the ground.

Paying half an ear to the determined clacking of a keyboard from the table behind him, knowing it for the dedication it was, his huff was light at best. “You know,” he said, nonchalance gently delivered and yet leading all the same, “He put a card face-down.”

It got him nary a twitch, but a gamer’s instinct never lied, and the shift in the air was all the indication he needed to play out the next step, “Should maybe play it.” Anzu gave him a sharp look; he shook his head, turning his attention back to the one duelist who had any idea how this game might end, “You know how he gets when someone lets the chance for a  _good_  game pass them by.”

The hand tracing the cracks in the Puzzle paused. Katsuya grinned, waiting a beat for practicality’s sake before turning on his heel. If he remembered correctly, there should be some rice left over from lunch, a lukewarm soda somewhere. A breeze creaked through a half-opened window, and he brushed his fingers over his duel disk, feeling the hum that couldn’t have come from just hibernating circuitry.

It took energy to change the tides of fate - Jounouchi Katsuya intended to get a head start.

**Author's Note:**

> I have a writing blog! Come drop by and say hello - neostriatum.tumblr.com.


End file.
